April 9, 1942

This has been a terrible day. At 6 a.m. Gen. King sent a flag of truce with Col. Williams through the lines to make preliminary arrangements for surrender. I was up most of the night talking with people on the Bataan side, and with Gen. Wainwright. Gen. King had indicated indirectly that he wanted to surrender to keep the battle out of the general hospital area with its 5,000 patients. Gen. Wainwright ordered him not to surrender, and on the contrary, to attack with the I Corps in an attempt to break through on the left. The attack order was never transmitted to the I Corps as far as I could learn. We tried to pull out of Bataan all units of the Philippine Division, but they were so badly involved they couldn’t get through. We evacuated some men from the Division as well as numerous others, many of whom have no business here, as there is nothing for them to do. Everyone who could get a boat of any kind came over here, and this has been a madhouse today. Gen. King went through the lines to talk with the Jap commander at about 10 a.m. and has not yet returned (7:30 p.m.). We can still talk with the other side, but they know nothing as to terms of surrender. Jap artillery employed at Cabcaben is firing at us now.